General News of Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2017-10-04
President Nana Akufo-Addo(L) and Former President Mahama on a TV show in the year 2000
“I’m just going to chip in what Nana and Co will do if they win power, I know that shortly after they win, they will come out and say ehhh, people, unfortunately, we didn’t know the true state of the economy, its worse than we thought, that’s what they are going to say…..all the promises we made you, unfortunately, we can’t deliver immediately, just keep your belts tightened and in the medium to long-term, we will deliver on those promises, that’s what they’ll say”, these were the words of Former President John Mahama; Communications Minister by then, when he engaged in a heated debate with Akufo-Addo (now President), prior to the elections in 2000.
In an excerpt of the video, the two are seen arguing over their proposed policies prior to the 2000 elections.
Fast forward to 2017, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration headed by President Akufo-Addo is in power and this prediction seems to be manifesting as government on a number of occasions has told somewhat ‘disappointed’ Ghanaians to ‘be patient’ as they work towards fulfilling their promises to them.
Complaints have emerged few months after Akufo-Addo’s government assumed power about the state of affairs in the country particularly from the camp of minority members who have criticized the President and his administration for ‘having lied’ to Ghanaians by making promises that they are going back on now that they are in power.
In response to these accusations and allegations, various members of the NPP administration including the President have assured Ghanaians of their commitment to fulfilling all their promises. They attributed the slow pace at which their promises were unfolding to the ‘sad’ state of the economy as they found it when they assumed office.
The first lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo asked Ghanaians to give her husband some time to implement his plans for the country during an interaction with Chiefs and Elders of Abamkrom and Kumikrom in the Upper West Akim District of the Eastern Region last month.
“The President wishes good for the country so we should be patient with him and support him to succeed,” she said.
Masloc Boss, Mr. Stephen Amoah also told Ghanaians to exercise patience and wait for the good plans the President has in store for the country ahead of the Delegates Conference held in Cape Coast.
“He wants to establish a country whose socio-economic development platform or framework will benefit even the generation to come. Long-term economic growth and stability of our country that will benefit today and the future generation is what he is pursuing and that is why we as a people should be a little more patience with his leadership style because he is doing so much now but of course, we don’t expect impact within one year”.
President Akufo-Addo, at a durbar of Chiefs and people at Bibiani, on Monday, August 7, 2017, at the commencement of his 3-day tour of the Western region assured Ghanaians that steps are being put in place to restore the ‘messy’ economy they inherited.
“When we came into office, we were met with huge debts and no money. It is for this reason that we put in place the appropriate measures to strengthen our monetary system, so the development we promised the people can be met.”
The most recent was President Akufo-Addo’s expression of desire to fulfil most of the promises he made to the people of Ghana during the 2016 electioneering campaign, which eventually saw him becoming president.
Addressing the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs on the first day of his week-long visit to the three Northern regions on Monday, October 2, he noted satirically, “My father died and he did not leave me any money; so I came as a young boy without any imperatives…so I’m now having to build up the money we need to be able to do the things that we need to do…..Give us some time” he said.
The NPP made several promises to the Ghanaian populace in the run-up to elections. He promised among others, to embark on several projects, introduce flagship programs to improve the lives of Ghanaians and to create a Special Prosecutor’s Office to deal with issues of corruption in governance and public offices, to provide jobs for the Ghanaian youth populace particularly, the increase in cocoa production.
President Akufo-Addo’s words to Ghanaians were “I will not announce policies and programmes which I know I cannot fulfil. I respect Ghanaians far too much to lie to them. We are going to implement all the policies for which we have said we would and in particular, the ‘1-district-1-factory’ policy to help bring progress and prosperity to all parts of Ghana”
About 9 months into office, the President has launched a number of his flagship programs including the Free SHS policy to provide Senior High School students free access to education, the Planting for Food and Jobs policy to revamp the agricultural sector, the One-District-One-Factory policy to boost industrialization in the country among others.
Though the programs have not been without challenges and criticisms from several sections of the party and opposition parties, President Akufo-Adoo has consistently assured Ghanaians of a fulfilment of all his pledges.
